ESPN's Mike Greenberg calls for the NFL to adopt a draft lottery

The NBA Draft tries to ensure that tanking isn’t as much of an emphasis for teams. None of the past seven teams who have had the worst record in the league (and therefore the best odds) have won the lottery for the No. 1 pick. It’s been a success to the point that Mike Greenberg thinks it should now be the model for drafts in all sports, namely in the NFL.

Greenberg applauded the NBA’s lottery system this morning on “Get Up.” He says it’s the most effective way to take out tanking from your league as it guarantees the worst teams nothing. Because of that, the NFL should follow the NBA’s model on this, Greenberg argues.

“(Adam Silver) recognizes, as should every sports fan, tanking is a scourge. Tanking is a disgrace. Tanking runs contrary to literally everything sports is designed to be. Incentivizing losing is the worst mistake any sport can possibly make, any sports league can make,” said Greenberg. “As a result, I think it is great news (that the Mavericks won). People saying, ‘Oh, this isn’t working because the worst teams aren’t getting the pick!’. Shut up! That’s exactly the wrong way to look at it. This way? Win games. Go out there and win games and see what happens.”

“You know what should happen? The NFL should add this. Every sport should add this,” Greenberg said. “The lottery is a brilliant idea and I would completely favor – I know Schefty was on talking about it on the radio this morning. I would absolutely be in favor of the NFL going to some sort of draft lottery so you stop with the tanking, which is the worst thing in sports.”

The NBA approved this new lottery method back in 2017, and it took effect in the 2019 NBA Draft. The three worst teams all have the same odds at 14%. The remaining 11 teams in the lottery then have anywhere from a 12.5% to a 0.7% chance of winning it. No team with the worst record has won the lottery in the last seven years. The Utah Jazz, with the worst record in the league at 17-65, fell as far as they possible could have to No. 5 last night while the Dallas Mavericks, who had the ninth-best odds, moved all the way up to No. 1.

There is an argument on the other hand that’s worth noting, too. Not all losing seasons are a result of tanking. Some teams just aren’t good and therefore need a chance at a top overall pick to change their future for the better, which a poor record would allow them in the draft. That said, for teams that do decide to tank, this method disincentivizes that.

Compare that to the NFL, who still slots the draft order based on record for the NFL Draft. Apply this system to this year and the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants would have all had the same odds at the top pick. The rest of the teams who missed the playoffs would have had a smaller chance at No. 1, depending on the numbers.

Again, Greenberg just wants to get this way of thinking out of sports altogether. He’s not a fan of fanbases and franchises wanting to be bad, which hurts their product as well as the product of their league as a whole.

“I just did the NFL Draft as I do every year. It’s my favorite assignment of my year. The number of people who said to me coming out of Green Bay – ‘Well, we’ll just suck this year and get Arch Manning. We’ll just be terrible this year and get Arch Manning’. Shut up! Win games for crying out loud,” said Greenberg. “There’s only one Arch Manning – A. B – Who knows how good he’s going to be. C – The Mannings stay in college. They’re legendary for that. Arch Manning isn’t going to be in next year’s draft. You have no idea how good next year is going to be.”

“Giants, Patriots? You could say them this year. The Giants fans? They won a game at the very end. They didn’t have the first pick. The Patriots? They won a game at the very end. They didn’t have the first pick,” Greenberg said. “That should have had no impact on their draft order.”

It’s worth wondering if this lottery system, despite comments of it being rigged in the aftermath, could end up in other leagues outside the NBA. Greenberg is hoping for that if it means more teams will actually try to win rather than lose.

“Win games,” said Greenberg. “It should never benefit a team to lose any game that is being played at any point on the schedule in any sport.”